In this study, it has been demonstrated that for the evaluation of fetal status, increased TBA levels in the mother and increased exposure time for the fetus to these increased values of TBA within the maternal circulation system help to predict increased risk of asphyxia in newborns to ICP mothers.

Oligohydramnios occurs in about 2.3% of pregnancies and is threatening to fetal health. Hydration has been hypothesized to be an effective way of decreasing the occurrence of the condition because the likelihood for oligohydramnios increases with maternal dehydration. Several studies have shown that both serum and oral hydration therapies are effective treatments for oligohydramnios. The amniotic fluid index (AFI) is the most commonly used quantitative indicator of amniotic fluid volume. This randomized controlled clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of acute maternal hydration on increasing AFI in 44 pregnant Iranian women who were diagnosed by sonography to have oligohydramnios (defined as 2.1 Ͻ AFI Ͻ 6 cm). The participants were randomly divided into 2 groups: an intervention group (n ϭ 22) receiving oral hydration (2 liters of water within 2 hours) and a control group (n ϭ 22) receiving routine amounts of water. AFI and urinary specific gravity were measured in both groups at baseline and following intervention.Before treatment, the mean AFI was 50.8 in the intervention group and 52.1 in the control group. After treatment, the mean AFI increased to 67.2 in the intervention group whereas the AFI in the control group (52.5) remained close to the baseline value (P Ͻ 0.001, t test ϭ 3.827). There was a marked increase in the mean urinary specific gravity after treatment (intervention: 13.4 vs. control: 1.68) (P Ͻ 0.001, t test ϭ 3.956).These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that acute oral hydration is an effective, noninvasive, easily accessible and inexpensive treatment to increase AFI. OBSTETRICS Volume 65, Number 3 OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL SURVEY ABSTRACTActive management of the third stage of labor (AMTSL) is more effective in reducing postpartum hemorrhage than expectant management. Widespread implementation of AMTSL in remote and rural areas, however, is hampered by the lack of availability of an efficacious, easily administered, safe, and storable oxytocic. Two parenterally administered oxytocics, methyl ergometrine, and oxytocin, have a number of drawbacks in addition to their routes of administration. Methylergometrine is associated with the occurrence of life-threatening complications, and oxytocin requires careful handling and storage due to thermal-and photolability. In previous studies, a synthetic prostaglandin E1 analog, misoprostol has shown promise as an effective oxytocic agent. This agent is affordable, stable at room temperature, has a long-shelf, and can be administered orally or by other routes.This double-blind randomized trial compared the effectiveness of sublingual misoprostol with that of intravenous oxytocin, and intravenous methylergometrine in reducing blood loss during the third and fourth stages of labor. A total ABSTRACTThe major cause of immune hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) in developed countries is ABO incompatibility. HDN due to ABO incompatibility is considered a high risk condition because it leads to early onset hyperbilirubinemia, due to...